[zukzuk]

Toronto, Canada is hands down the raccoon capital of the world. Something like 100k raccoons live in the city.

I can’t get my head around how such big animals manage to live all around us in such densely populated place. I suppose it helps that they are cartoonishly adorable.

But they are increasingly getting really, really big. It’s just a matter of time before the chonker living in my neighbour’s shed bullies me out of my house.

[yabones]

All you need to know about Toronto is that the generational effort to build a raccoon-resistant trash can has failed every time. They're unstoppable beasts!

Example: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/raccoon-resistant-bin...

[whynotmaybe]

I've seen people in Quebec eastern township lock their garbage bins with a padlock. Some "advanced" garbage bins come with integrated lock.

[myrmidon]

Kassel is under 200k people, with ~100 raccoons/km² though!

Curiously, that raccoon population was established legally and intentionally in the 30s to bolster local fur production; later efforts to eradiacte the animals (for being pests from an agriculture perspective) have been given up.

Damage to local ecosystems seems fortunately pretty limited, even though the raccoons are highly successful and spreading.